Into the Woods

Natalia

"Sure thing, big guy," Natalia purred. She watched Grant's tail wag harder and tried not to take advantage of his distraction. She knew how dangerous it was to play with a wolf's mind. Especially when they were as powerful as him.

But, God, he was beautiful.

Grant heard her voice, and his ears swiveled forward. He looked up into her face. She smiled. "I highly recommend shifting to your human form. Claws might be good for ripping, but feet are better for balancing on trees."

Natalia looked him over. Few people could get this close to a warg in its battle form and live. Most of them didn't have the strength to hold back the animal within. Grant shook his head, his dappled gray fur rippling across his body. His eyes narrowed, and he growled low in his throat. Natalia took a step back, afraid of what was about to happen.

"I'm not as tall in my human form. I'll fall if I change," he finally ground out.

Natalia ran her fingers over her chin, contemplating all the options. She'd never seen a more dangerous creature look so afraid. She wanted to do something. But what?

Grant made an odd noise in his throat as a stiff breeze washed past him, causing all the branches to sway. The movements were natural for her, and her body adjusted to the swaying without a second thought, much like a sailor in the ocean. But Grant was frozen. His body wouldn't move.

"It seems like you have two options. You can let go and drop to the branch you are standing on," she said. Grant shook his head again, vehemently. "Or you can shimmy over to the trunk and shift to your human form. Either way, I will do what I can to help you down."

She moved closer, putting her hand on his shoulder, though she had to stand on the tips of her toes to do it. Standing next to him, the top of her head barely cleared the bottom of his rib cage. Funny, he looked so much shorter when she was in the trees.

Natalia wasn't sure what she was going to do. The wind had died down, and the trees stopped moving, but he was still locked in place. She squeezed in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

"Hey, we are going to get you down." Natalia put emphasis on the words. She crouched between his feet. "I'll help you move these. You work on the hands, ok?" Then looked up to see if he was listening to her. Big mistake. Impressive mistake.

Natalia's head snapped down, looking at his feet again, trying to hide the vivid blush that flooded her face.

"It's your fault I'm up here in the first place," he said.

"Oh, is it? I remember minding my business when you tried to attack me."

She heard him snort.

Shaking her head, she put her hand on his left foot first. Was it a paw? Some sort of odd mixture of the two, really. "Move this one first, then the other. We'll make our way over to the trunk."

Grant didn't answer, but she felt him shift slightly beneath her fingers. Natalia kept her eyes on the ground, focusing on moving his foot.

"That's it, nice and slow," she cooed. She took her time working his other foot over. It took forever, but her back hit the trunk of the tree. Natalia stood, grabbing a smaller branch behind her, and leaned back to give him space.

"Ok, now, we need to shift you to your human form." Natalia kept her voice low.

He nodded. His head tilted to the side as he studied her. Natalia's heart rate picked up. This was so dangerous. She needed to get him down safely.

Grant took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His body vibrated, fur melting into skin, bones moving, and muscles shifting. As Natalia watched, he stretched, the tension in his shoulders easing. The last thing she saw before his human form appeared were his long legs flexing as he shifted.